1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the use of nanochannel glass (NCG) in patterning a substrate with submicron (i.e., nanoscale) resolution, in parallel. More particularly, the present invention relates to using NCG to physically or chemically modify a substrate by transferring a material from the NCG to the substrate surface. The range of patterns which may be transferred to the substrate is limited only by the types of patterns that can be generated in an NCG sample.
2. Description of the Related Art
In complex structures, the relative placement of features is an important concern, along with the size and resolution of the features.
As used herein, "NCG" refers to a composite of different glasses, where these glasses are arranged in selected patterns. Typically, NCG will be a composite of two glasses, referred to as the "matrix glass" and the "etchable glass". Upon exposure to some agent(s) or condition(s), the etchable glass will dissolve or otherwise be removed, and the matrix glass will be unaffected, or at least minimally affected by these conditions. Such conditions include, but are not limited to, exposure to a solvent such as an acid, a base, or water. "Etched NCG" refers to the NCG that has been at least partially (and optionally completely) developed by exposure to an agent or condition that will differentially remove glass from the NCG, and "channel" refers to the voids created by this removal of glass, regardless of the geometry of these voids. It is this property of having the different glasses arranged in selected patterns, with high accuracy (ca. 0.5% of channel size), high precision (high repeatability), and small, controllable minimum feature sizes (ca. 10 nm or less), that distinguishes NCG from other composite glasses. Likewise, it is the property of having voids arranged in selected patterns that distinguishes etched NCG from other porous glasses (such as Vycor.TM.).
It is desired to make a variety of patterns and structures. For example, it is a goal of the art to transfer patterned materials to substrates. These transferred materials may be used as patterned bi-layered materials, as masks for processing of substrates, and for other applications. It is frequently desired to pattern a substrate with metals (hard ferromagnetic, soft ferromagnetic, anti ferromagnetic, nonferromagnetic), semiconductors, insulators, superconductors, waxes, polymers, etc.